Game club



May 12, 1925. 1,537,711

L. B. 'SPAFFORD GAME CLUB;

Filed Oct. 2, 24

@777 M??? for: 6 j 9220170211,

Patented May 12, 1925.

UNITED STATES 1,537,711 PATENT OFFICE.

LEWIS B. SPAFFO BD, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

GAME CLUB.

Application filed October 2,1924. Serial No. 741,096.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Lnwis B. SPAFFORD, a subject of the King of Great Britain,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented new andrespect to the shaft that there are combined in a single club, impact faces 'for different conditions of play without changing the head on the shaft, thus making only one inexpensive club necessary for each player of the game, instead of a plurality of expensive clubs with different impact faces as in the game of golf. 3

A further object of my invention is to make the playing or impact faces of the club much larger than on golf clubs, thus allowing a larger ball to be usedand enabling the game to be played almost anywhere that the space is open enough for driving a ball.

The invention consists further in the matters hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a side view, full size, of my improved club head;

gig. 2. is a view of the club head from one on Fig. 3 is a view from the opposite end;

Fig. 4 is a top plan View;

Fig. 5 is a perspective View of the club on a small scale;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the cup and flag employed in playing the game; and

Figs. 7 to 11 illustrate how my club is used for different conditions of play.

The club has a head 1 and a shaft 2. The head 1 may be made of wood or any suitable material of a character fitted for the purpose, and is shaped to have side faces 3, 4, end faces 5, 6, and top and bottom faces 7, 8. Lengthwise, the head 1 is arcuate in shape and this provides the top and bottom faces concave and convex, respectively, as

shown. The bottom face 8 is larger than the cop one and is provided at the front or toe end of the club with a forwardly and down wardl rejecting hp 9 to be hereinafter described Crosswise, the club head 1 follows a truncated pyramid, and its side faces 3 and 4 are flat and are inclined upward and inward from the bottom face 8. The end faces 5, 6' are also flat and are inclined upward and inward from the bottom face 8.

The shaft 2 enters the club head 1 through its top face 7 and is inclined away from the head in the same general manner as the end face 5. This allows the club to be used for putting, that is, short strokes, as the'club may beheld with the end face 5 substantially perpendicular to the ground, as shown in Fig. 9.

The faces3 and 4 are substantially at the same angles to the shaft 2 and have sufficient left for driving strokes. With these faces on opposite sides of the head, the club is suitable for either a right=handed or lefthanded player. The former holds the club to drive with the side face 4:, as shown in Fig.7 while the latter uses the face 3, as shown in Fig. 8.

With the shaft 2 extending back over the end face 6, said end face 6 is at an obtuse angle to the shaft. This gives said face 6 an extreme loft and allows the player to make the hook stroke as when lifting the ball 10 from a hole or depression in the ground or into the cup 11, as shown in Fig. 10. The cup 11 consists of an annular member or ring placed on the ground or playing field and into which the player must hole the ball in playing the game. The cup 11 is preferably a band of webbing of a width (two inches) to stand up from the ground when laid in position of use and of a length (three or four feet) to make a relatively large loop or circle.

The lip or projection 9 is at the front or toe of the club head 1 and is curved crosswise the head as shown in Figs. 1, 4, and 5, so as to readily clear the ground. The under face a of this projection inclines inward toward the bottom face 8 and provides a lift for the ball when using the projection 9 in the 100 play. This projection 9 is used for a stroke called the punt, that is, for driving the ball when it is lodged on the side of a hill or embankment or bunker 12, as shown in Fig. 11. By having the shaft 2 come out from 105 the head across the end face 6, this puntin stroke is made by turning the club to brlng its bottom face 8 uppermost and using the club in the manner of a billiard cue, the

loft a of the lip giving a lift or elevation to 110 ent ways and for five different purposes without changing the position of the shaft or head in their relation to each other. This combines in one club the advantages of a plurality of clubs and makes the game less expensive than golf, golf requiring a separate, expensive club for each condition or feature of theplay.

The game may be played on a regular golf course or any open space of sufficient 1 area for driving a ball, as on a beach, or in a field or meadow or on a picnic ground and the like.'

On a golf course, the game is played in the same manner as golf, using the regular golf flags, greens and fairways, with the exception that cups 11 are used in place of the regulation golf .holes, and only a single club is used by each player, with the hook stroke used to play a ball out of a depression and into a cup, and the punt stroke used for playing off a hillside, bunker or embankment. I o

On a beach or in a field or open space not previously laid out for the game, cups 11,

each with a flag or other marker 13, are laid out at the desired spaced intervals and the game played as before. If no definite course is to be followed, each foursome or other group of players, using a cup and flag and with a caddy, play over a course as directed by one of their number, the caddy placing the cup on the ground at the place directed and holding the flag until the players hole the cup, whereupon the .cup and flag are carried further for the next play, and so on.

As in golf, the player making the fewest strokes wins the game. With my improvements, very few accessories are required, making it possible to set up the game almost anywhere and take it down when through the play. \Vith the striking faces of the club larger, a ball larger than a golf ball may be used, thus adapting the game to rough and uneven ground, in that the ball ma be'more easily found than a smaller one. f course, I do not wish to be limited to any particular size of ball or club face, or any of the other details herein shown and described, as they may be changed and modified without departing from the spirit and scope of my inventlon.

I claim as my invention: 1. A game club having an arcuate shaped head with inclined impact faces at its ends and sides, and a shaft secured to the head at an inclination back over one of the end faces thereof.

2. A game club having an arcuate shaped head with inclined impact faces at its ends and sides, and a shaft secured to the head at an inclination back over one of the end faces thereof, the side faces having the same angular arrangement to the shaft so that either a right or a left-handed-player may drive with said side faces without changing the relation of the head to the shaft.

3. A game club having an arcuate shaped head with inclined impact faces at its ends and sides, and a shaft secured to said head at an inclination back over one end face and inthe same general direction as the other end face so that the end faces may be used for putting and hook strokes, respectively.

4. A game club having an arcuate shaped head having inclined impact faces at its ends and sides, said head having at one end an inclined projection extending below its under side, and a shaft secured to said head at an inclination conforming to the inclination of the end face at the projection so that the latter may be used to strike a ball in the mannerof a billiard one on inverting the position of the club and giving an end thrust on the shaft.

5. A game club having an arcuate shaped head having flat impact faces at its ends and sides, said faces being inclined upward and inward from the bottom of the club and occupying the full width and length, respectively, of the head so that a ball larger than a golf ball may be used with the club.

6. A game club having a shaft and a head faces for driving, putting, hooking, and punting, respectively, without changing the relation of the head to the shaft.

7. A game club having an arcuate shaped.

LEWIS B'. SPA]? FORD.

with the latter having a plurality of impact I 

